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| The Elusive Green Fairy |
Last weekend, Nash and I decided to make a mission to Wellington for a romantic weekend getaway before his departure on the
Putfoot Ralley. We chose Wellington because of my deep, meaningful love affair with
Diemersfontein Pinotage. It ended up being a weekend getaway filled with high spirits, new friends, a little green fairy...and of course it ended off with a bit of romance, too.
We had planned on
Diemersfontein for a bit of wine tasting, followed by a visit to
Jorgensen's Craft Distillery to meet with the lovely
Dawn and her mad scientist/genius husband Roger for a tasting of their spirits;
Primitv Vodka...and more
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| Man, Scientist, Genius |
specifically,
Field Of Dreams Absinthe. I had met Dawn a few weeks before at the
36Boutiques shoot we had worked on together and decided a visit to their distillery was an absolute
must after I read
this article on the Jorgensens in the Kulula in flight magazine. In the meantime, Nash had actually seen the same article on a flight he was on earlier this month, and kept the magazine to remind him to organize us a tasting of this elusive Absinthe.
Call it fate or
kismet, if you will
... (I most certainly will)
So, after a light lunch at Diemersfontein, we set off for the Jorgensens. Arriving at their farm, you would think we had actually been friends for 20 years (which is impossible, as I would have been just 2 when we met), and we were just popping round for a catch-up and a bit to drink.
This couple's friendly, warm welcome instantly set us at ease (which often doesn't happen at tastings, and they end up being stiff and not very interesting) and I felt free to ask questions and make stupid jokes as Roger explained all about their craft distillery. They use as many local ingredients as possible-some of them are even bartered from their neighbours-and when they speak about their spirits, you can really tell how incredibly passionate they are about every aspect of the production...right through to the final product.
Dawn and Roger are such infectious personalities and when they speak, you are completely taken by what they are saying. Much later, as we were leaving Nash turned to me and said, completely straight faced "Dawn is probably
the most incredibly beautiful woman in the world". So there you have it.
After our tour of the distillery we were ushered onto the Jorgensen's spacious back
stoep, to possibly the most beautiful view anyone could have at their own home. Iced shot glasses were placed in front of us, as Roger explained all about their flagship spirit, Primitiv Vodka while Dawn poured us sizable tasters. Primitv is South Africa's first "sipping vodka", which means that it's meant to be drunk like the Russians do it: on ice.
The thought of vodka on ice brings chills to my skin and bile to my throat, as I'm sure it does to yours... but this vodka is different. It is smooth and tasty. It doesn't make you wish you were in a coma. Yes, its actually tasty!
I actually had no idea that vodka was actually even
supposed to taste like anything. I thought the "flavour" was
Alcohol. Primitiv is complex, and flavourful, and full and "heavy" in your mouth. Dawn served us tiny slices of a heavy, dark bread topped with smoked salmon trout and caviar. The oily fish and heavy bread are a perfect match for the vodka and I am mad keen on this "food paired with vodka" vibe.
In fact, I think all food should be paired with alcohol.
Our vodka glasses were cleared away swiftly and replaced with tots of their
Naked Lemoncello. Lemony, real, delicious. None of
that horrific yellow water flavoured with lemon syrup. This is the real thing. In fact, its probably
healthy for you! It's probably part of the 5 fruits and veg you should have daily.
This was followed by a few sips of delicious potstill brandy. Another one of their products designed to be enjoyed neat. Free from mixers, and their sugars. (Secretly, I think its all about getting everyone more inebriated, quicker). Roger serves these with little chocolate truffles, infused with the brandy.
It didn't taste like the sweet brandy of my childhood (kidding)...
Finally...
finallyyy...it was time to test out the thing we were most keen on: The Absinthe. I'd never had it before, because I'd heard that "the South African one" wasn't really what it was all about and that it didn't offer the same effect as the original Absinthe.You know, the one that your friends had in Rome and Chechosloswedia, and Amsterdam...
Apparently, large amounts of Absinthe can make you loose your sense of self-awareness, and encourage creativity. Which explains why it is rumoured that pretty much all of the great writers and thinkers were big drinkers of the stuff. Roger has gone to great lengths to make sure his recipe is authentic, and he grows most of the herbs at home.
If you've never tried Absinthe before: The flavour is incredibly strong. Its quite bitter, and very herby. It smells strongly of aniseed and tastes of liquorice. The Jorgensen's Absinthe is an incredible, beautiful green, but the real magic happens when it is mixed with water: as you drip the water into the Absinthe it creates a weird, smoke-like mixing effect in the glass and the colour changes from green to a gorgeous jade. It' quite mind bottling.
With the sun setting over the beautiful mountains in front of us, we sat around chatting to our new friends about their lives, our lives, and the perils of curing olives and paying customs on booze (them, not us).
After saying our goodbyes to the Jorgensen family (their lovely daughter Lemor had by this time also joined the party)
three hours later, armed with a bottle of the good stuff (the Absinthe-duh) we headed back to Diemersfontein where we were spending the night.
We had a fantastic dinner at their
Seasons restaurant and managed to polish off
three bottles of pinotage with the wonderful Rene and the farm's owner before retiring to our room. With a fire roaring in our bedroom and the wind and rain going wild outside we sipped on some more Absinthe...and woke up at 04:30...fire dead...with no recollection of how we got under the covers.
I have a feeling we
miiiiiight have been distracted by a certain green fairy...
That's the ferrule right there. The little metal bit that holds the wooden brush handle and the bristles together. That bit shouldn't get wet, because it may not dry properly and become miffy inside there which is gross, and because the water and brush cleaner might damage the adhesive that keeps everything stuck.
Shopping list:
that horrific yellow water flavoured with lemon syrup. This is the real thing. In fact, its probably healthy for you! It's probably part of the 5 fruits and veg you should have daily.
